Denver Taqueria Receives Distinct James Beard Award: 'They're Holding Their Own'

DENVER (CBS4) – It was another busy day for the staff at El Taco De Mexico as the snow and cold temperatures didn't keep away the lunch rush inside their small restaurant on Santa Fe Drive and 7th Avenue. The owner told CBS4 on Wednesday the honor from the James Beard Foundation as one of "America's Classics" for 2020 caught the entire team by surprise.

"We're a very simple taqueria. We're not even a restaurant," said Sasha Zanabria, the owner. "We could have never imagined getting something like that."

Her mother started the restaurant in 1985 with her father. The family moved from California to Colorado, but are originally from Mexico City. Zanabria started to take the lead at the restaurant about 10 years ago as her mother needed to scale back her involvement. She passed away two years ago.

"It's love, it's the dedication of people being responsible, being dedicated," she said. "My mother loved this restaurant a lot, I love this restaurant a lot, it's family."

The James Beard Foundation started the "America's Classics" awards in 1998. The recognition honors restaurants that show the character of a community. Each year, the foundation chooses a select group from across the country to join their list. As a leading organization on American cuisine and considered one of the highest honors in the culinary world, Zanabria appreciates their acknowledgement of the hard work her team delivers daily.

"I think it says a lot about the dedication that these ladies have had, the dedication and the love that my mom gave to it," she said.  "We are very honored, even in our simplicity, you know, meat, a tortilla, onions, cilantro, and a salsa, could be so recognized."

For a majority of the 35 years the restaurant has been open, it's been almost all women running the kitchen. A rare sight behind the scenes that comes from employees who have stayed with the restaurant for 30 plus years, some there from the beginning.

"It's usually a male-dominated industry and so here in the kitchen, everyone is female," Zanabria said. "You know my ladies, they're holding their own."

Their success has not required much change and the restaurant likely won't need to change anything in the years ahead to keep up their winning recipe.

"There's a lot of love and pride to what we're doing," she said. "We're immensely grateful and thankful for all the love that Denver has given us throughout the years."